"Atchafalaya". The New Yorker 63 (23 February 1987) 39-44
"The message "- John McPhee is trying to convey in his article - The Conflict of Nature: Atchafalaya.
Instead of focusing on what the article is about, I'm going to try to focus on what McPhee is trying to say about ecology and our environment changing due to ecological matters.
Here are some quotes from the article, and my reasoning of what i think McPhee is trying to say in that particular passage.
"The water just poured out-bouats with it- and flowed on into a distributary waterscape known as Atchafalaya"
- here, he is talking about the Mississippi River, and the disribution of water
- The fact that water is flowing everywhere
"In each decade since about 1860, the Atchafalaya River had drawn off more water from the Mississippi than it had in the decade before" -This is significant here, he means that ever since 1860 the water is declining. I think McPhee is giving the message of the awareness of the rivers and water.
"As the Atchafalaya widened, and deepened , eroding headward, offering the mississippi an increasingly attractive alternative, it was preparing for nothing less than an absolute capture: before long, it would take all of the Mississippi, and itself become the master stream"- Again here, McPhee is giving awareness about the water in the rivers.
" As the mouth advances Southward and the river lengthens, the gardient declines, the current slows and sediment builds up the bed. Eventually it builds up so much that the river spills to one side. Major shifts of that nature have tended to occur roughly once a millenium." - McPhee, is just trying to show the changes happening on Earth, regarding water ways and river.
- This is also showing the effects of global warming ( i think anyways) and how our earth is changing
- He is sending the message that over the years changes are occuring to our earth and we have to face the facts and the tuth of this.
-He compares the earth's terrain with today's time and times before Christ and in A.D
- By the 1950's the Mississippi River shifts again towards the Atchafalaya ( Changes in our earth structure )
- Industries since, have now been taking over the area of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers
"Sometimes enough water would pour out of the Mississippi and through Old River to quintuple the falls at Niagra"
- this quote demonstrates the amount of water flowing, how much of it there is
- McPhee is just giving awareness about this
"Atchafalaya was also the source of the water in the swamps and bayous of the Cajun world. It was the water supply of small cities and countless towns".
- significant due to the amount of water that is needed for the surrounding communities
-water is the resource of all kinds of things in the world, and it is crucial and needed for our society and environment in this day in time.
-Over time the water levels of the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi have differed and increased significantly.
-The article talks a lot about rivers in relation to the Atchafalaya and the water worries of our ecological matters. They say that in the future sometime, there is going to be a water shortage. This is just a fact, and to know that this articles was published in 1987, then back then, scientist and ecologists has reconized this water crisis, and realize we have to do something.
Engineers help with the flow of the river with flooding and other such things that have to do with the river environmentally.
- these engineers include the U.S Army
- the U.S Army is involved with the levee systems, navigation. locks. rock jetties, and concrete reventments.
" In years, gone by when there were no control structures, naturally there were no complaints. The water where it pleased."
- this just signifiies the flow of the water. water just flows naturally.
- and now that there are controls on the river there are complaints by the surrounding communities
-the water in these river also affect the wildlife in the ecosystems surrounding them
" the Atchafalaya is widely described as one of the most treacherous in the world, but it just lies there quiet and smooth"
- a significant description of the river; describing how it is loud but also calm
“In southern Louisiana, the bed of the Mississippi River is so far below sea level that a flow of at least a hundred and twenty thousand cubic feet per second is needed to hold back salt water and keep it below New Orleans, which drinks the river. Along the ragged edges of the Gulf, whole ecosystems depend on the relationship of fresh to salt water, which is in large part controlled by the Corps. Shrimp people want water to be brackish, waterfowl people want it fresh—a situation that causes National Marine Fisheries to do battle with United States Fish and Wildlife while both simultaneously attack the Corps.”
- this quote is significant, as he is conveying the message about the river in relation to the wildlife surrounding it.
- Also how the river is controlled is also described briefly in here.
- McPhee truly gets to his point and conveys the message of climate change, and ecology and the environment, which relates to the heading "reporting on the environment". I think it is very descriptive and informative about rivers, nature and our environment.
Overall, i think McPhee is just "putting it out there", the idea of rivers, water ways, terrains, glaciers, land... etc. changing and decling on earth today and for now on, in the future. It is reality. This piece was written in 1987, therefore it was happening then to, but people didn't notice it or didn't think about it too much, today it is more prevalent. And therefore, McPhee is just "putting it out there". to give people a reality check, tell them the truths about what is going on around us and look at our surroundings. There are probably lots of other articles McPhee has written that just gives a person an idea of things in their surroundings.
"Atchafalaya". The New Yorker 63 (23 February 1987) 39-44
"The message "- John McPhee is trying to convey in his article - The Conflict of Nature: Atchafalaya.
Instead of focusing on what the article is about, I'm going to try to focus on what McPhee is trying to say about ecology and our environment changing due to ecological matters.
Here are some quotes from the article, and my reasoning of what i think McPhee is trying to say in that particular passage.
"The water just poured out-bouats with it- and flowed on into a distributary waterscape known as Atchafalaya"
- here, he is talking about the Mississippi River, and the disribution of water
- The fact that water is flowing everywhere
"In each decade since about 1860, the Atchafalaya River had drawn off more water from the Mississippi than it had in the decade before" -This is significant here, he means that ever since 1860 the water is declining. I think McPhee is giving the message of the awareness of the rivers and water.
"As the Atchafalaya widened, and deepened , eroding headward, offering the mississippi an increasingly attractive alternative, it was preparing for nothing less than an absolute capture: before long, it would take all of the Mississippi, and itself become the master stream"- Again here, McPhee is giving awareness about the water in the rivers.
" As the mouth advances Southward and the river lengthens, the gardient declines, the current slows and sediment builds up the bed. Eventually it builds up so much that the river spills to one side. Major shifts of that nature have tended to occur roughly once a millenium." - McPhee, is just trying to show the changes happening on Earth, regarding water ways and river.
- This is also showing the effects of global warming ( i think anyways) and how our earth is changing
- He is sending the message that over the years changes are occuring to our earth and we have to face the facts and the tuth of this.
-He compares the earth's terrain with today's time and times before Christ and in A.D
- By the 1950's the Mississippi River shifts again towards the Atchafalaya ( Changes in our earth structure )
- Industries since, have now been taking over the area of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers
"Sometimes enough water would pour out of the Mississippi and through Old River to quintuple the falls at Niagra"
- this quote demonstrates the amount of water flowing, how much of it there is
- McPhee is just giving awareness about this
"Atchafalaya was also the source of the water in the swamps and bayous of the Cajun world. It was the water supply of small cities and countless towns".
- significant due to the amount of water that is needed for the surrounding communities
-water is the resource of all kinds of things in the world, and it is crucial and needed for our society and environment in this day in time.
-Over time the water levels of the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi have differed and increased significantly.
-The article talks a lot about rivers in relation to the Atchafalaya and the water worries of our ecological matters. They say that in the future sometime, there is going to be a water shortage. This is just a fact, and to know that this articles was published in 1987, then back then, scientist and ecologists has reconized this water crisis, and realize we have to do something.
Engineers help with the flow of the river with flooding and other such things that have to do with the river environmentally.
- these engineers include the U.S Army
- the U.S Army is involved with the levee systems, navigation. locks. rock jetties, and concrete reventments.
" In years, gone by when there were no control structures, naturally there were no complaints. The water where it pleased."
- this just signifiies the flow of the water. water just flows naturally.
- and now that there are controls on the river there are complaints by the surrounding communities
-the water in these river also affect the wildlife in the ecosystems surrounding them
" the Atchafalaya is widely described as one of the most treacherous in the world, but it just lies there quiet and smooth"
- a significant description of the river; describing how it is loud but also calm
“In southern Louisiana, the bed of the Mississippi River is so far below sea level that a flow of at least a hundred and twenty thousand cubic feet per second is needed to hold back salt water and keep it below New Orleans, which drinks the river. Along the ragged edges of the Gulf, whole ecosystems depend on the relationship of fresh to salt water, which is in large part controlled by the Corps. Shrimp people want water to be brackish, waterfowl people want it fresh—a situation that causes National Marine Fisheries to do battle with United States Fish and Wildlife while both simultaneously attack the Corps.”
- this quote is significant, as he is conveying the message about the river in relation to the wildlife surrounding it.
- Also how the river is controlled is also described briefly in here.
- McPhee truly gets to his point and conveys the message of climate change, and ecology and the environment, which relates to the heading "reporting on the environment". I think it is very descriptive and informative about rivers, nature and our environment.
Overall, i think McPhee is just "putting it out there", the idea of rivers, water ways, terrains, glaciers, land... etc. changing and decling on earth today and for now on, in the future. It is reality. This piece was written in 1987, therefore it was happening then to, but people didn't notice it or didn't think about it too much, today it is more prevalent. And therefore, McPhee is just "putting it out there". to give people a reality check, tell them the truths about what is going on around us and look at our surroundings. There are probably lots of other articles McPhee has written that just gives a person an idea of things in their surroundings.
-Jessica Marr-